Nalini out to challenge Smriti
Nalini Singh Siwach
Nalini Singh Siwach, who ended her title drought last week at her home course — the DLF Golf and Country Club, will look to carry on from where she had left, when she tees off at the sixth leg of the Hero-WGAI Women’s Pro tour event at the Golden Greens in Gurgaon on Tuesday.
Nalini, who had a string of top-3 finishes before she pulled off the win last week, is currently second on the Order of Merit, and yet another win could see her close in on leader Smriti Mehra, who is the only multiple winner so far this year.
With Sharmila Nicollet focusing on the Ladies European Tour after the first two events in south, the battle for honours has been between veteran Smriti and the youth brigade led by Nalini and Vani Kapoor.
Rookie Vani had won the third leg of the Tour at Clover Greens in Prestige Golfshire in Bengaluru.
The Golden Greens is 6,305 yards long and playing to par 72 and could be a good test for the golfers if the breeze picks up. They will also need to contend with the heat.
In the six legs played so far, there have been five different winners.
Sharmila won the opening leg in Bengaluru, but Smriti and Vani won the next two, before Smriti won again in Srinagar. The fifth leg was won by Nalini.
Two other youngsters who would be looking to put themselves in the winners’ circle would be Neha Tripathi and Saaniya Sharma, who have won in the past.
In the opening round, Vani has been clubbed with Nalini in the first group, while Smriti is in the last group with Vandana Aggarwal and amateur Rashika Chauhan.
Current Order of Merit Leaders
1. Smriti Mehra Rs 5,69,000
2. Nalini Singh Siwach Rs 5,08,000
3. Vani Kapoor Rs 4,91,000
4. Sharmila Nicollet Rs 3,52,500
5. Neha Tripathi Rs 3,16,500
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